May 4, 2018- Emporia State baseball took game one of the weekend series 7-2 over Lindenwood on Friday. Despite being out-hit in the game the Hornets used two home runs to take down the Lions.
After exchanging outs in the first inning the Hornets exploded for five runs in the top of the second to take the 5-0 lead. Trevor Turner led things off for the Hornets with a double to left field. Turner advanced to third base on a single to center field from Kyle Lopez. Brandon Bachar reached first on a fielder's choice that advanced Lopez to second and drove Turner in for the score. Brian Grove singled to center field to load the bases before Mack Gowing hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Lopez. Bryce Fischer extended the Hornets lead to 5-0 with a three run home run over the left field fence that scored Bachar and Grove to end the inning for the Hornets.
The Lions got on the board in the bottom of the third inning with a lead off home run to bring the score to 5-1. After exchanging outs for the next four innings the Hornets extended their lead with two runs in the top of the eighth. Kaden Shaffer led off the inning for the Hornets with a walk. Two batters later Tate Kastens hit a two run home run down the left field line to score Shaffer and extend the Hornets lead to 7-1. In the bottom of the eighth the Lions closed the gap to 7-2 with one run to end scoring for the game.
The Hornets had six hits from six different players in the game. Bryce Fischer led the Hornets with three RBI followed by Tate Kastens with two and Mack Gowing and Brandon Bachar each with one.
Seth Holman started on the mound for the Hornets and pitched 7.0 innings allowing just three hits and one run with seven K's. Nathan Gieber pitched 1.0 innings allowing four hits and one run before being replaced by Drew Scrimsher. Scrimsher threw 12 pitches before being replaced by Trey Taylor. Taylor finished the game for the Hornets pitching 1.0 innings with one K.
With the win, the Hornets clinch their spot in the MIAA conference tournament. The Hornets are currently in sixth place in conference standings.
